Golden Fox
by LadyEmber
Summary: After an order by the clan heads the Golden Fox, famous yet feared after a certain event at the kyuubi attack when she was 10 is sent to retrieve the stolen children konoha 8 from a certain snake. Will she succeed? Fem Naru and T for later events
1. Chapter 1

_**Warning:**_

_To any Naruto perfectionists..._

_- Yes, I know that I'm gonna have some facts/dates/characters/events mixed up, or "totally wrong", but don't you dare try and tell me it's wrong. It's a FAN FICTION, meaning that I made it this way on PURPOSE, no mistakes intended. And to any of said perfectionists I have just offended... deal with it!_

_To everyone else..._

_- Hope you like it and that it's of some standard, so please R & R if you can, much appreciated_

_Ember love xx_

* * *

The blade of her katana slid easily through the fleshy neck of her target before pausing for, perhaps a fraction of a second, before continuing through the spinal cord like a hot knife through butter. The job was done.

Sunlight flashed along the crimson blade as she smoothly shook the weapon clean and sheathed it in an instant, the silence broken only by the dual _thud_ as both head, and then corpse fell to the ground, blood spraying her black uniform as the body jerked spasmodically, the final death throes unnoticed as she concentrated on her surroundings, always cautious, all returned to blissful silence.

Sealing the head into a provided scroll she slipped it back into her black kunai pouch that adorned her right thigh.

Once done her hands began flashing through a series of seals at an impressive speed, Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, all performed in a blur before stopping suddenly with the Ram seal, the jutsu title whispered near silently and it was only now that the blood dripped down between her fingers, crossing her palms.

_"Kuchiyose no Jutsu"_

Dual beasts, one silver, one crimson emerged from the smoke, halting to bow quickly with respect for the shadowed figure of their summoner before latching onto the headless corpse with white flashing teeth and disappearing back into the drifting smoke and back to the summons' realm, the still warm corpse would provide an adequate meal, indeed, dinner was served.

Sighing slightly the figure stood alone in the clearing, porcelain mask in place and surveying the surrounding area gave a slight

"hn", before bowing once to the bloodstained ground where the body had recently lain before leaving soundlessly, once there, then suddenly gone.

* * *

The shadows shifted near the base of one of the nearby trees until slitted yellow eyes emerged, the sudden sound of maniacal laughter jarring harshly with the previously silent clearing

"Kukukuku..."

The eyes glanced around and froze at the sight of the number of exploding tags that currently surrounded the clearing in which the villain now stood. It was as if with slow motion that he watched a thrown kunai slowly shredding one of the kekkai tags (barrier) that had been stopping the tags from going off.

'_BOOM'_

* * *

The masked ANBU gave a small smile as the clearing was engulfed within the fiery explosion before turning and making her way through the trees, back home to Konohagakure, another mission complete.

* * *

Her return home was uneventful and, as the gates loomed closer and closer a faint sigh could be heard passing her lips as the sun's last rays pressed warm against her back, pushing her home, the faces of both past and present Hokages illuminated, seeming to be both guiding and welcoming her home.

* * *

It was near the end of yet another boring shift at the gate before Genma and his companion noticed the bloodied kunoichi drawing closer along the open road, the blood a dark crimson, hard to notice against the black uniform this warrior wore, yet startlingly similar in colour to her black and red streaked hair.

As she reached the gate she halted before the standard waiting distance, showing she was not so far gone in pain to forget the teachings of her academy days, the rules that now many of the young genin paid no attention to.  
Both of the on-guard jounin watched warily as her gloved hand descended towards her kunai pouch but then relaxed minutely when her hand stopped above it, instead slipping into a black pouch, near invisible when attached to the black pants of her uniform. Fumbling to unzip the smaller pouch one-handed, the other cradling her right side, suggesting cracked or even broken ribs, yet the kunoichi made not a sound and finally she retrieved her identification papers and she pulled them out, forcing herself to act normally, regardless that the raising of her arm to flash her papers to the guards that it painfully jolted her ribs.

Genma himself frowned in concern as he watched her exhausted muscles trembling under the skin-tight cloth, wondering why the Hokage would send a single ANBU, however talented, solo on a mission that would leave them in such a state as he saw before him.

* * *

On seeing the papers both jounin stepped hastily from the kunoichi's path, gasping in shock, nearly touching their heads to the floor in their haste to bow to the bloodied warrior before them, a celebrity to all who lived in and around Konoha.

Before them stood the one who had, single-handedly, got the Kyuubi-no-yoko, the nine-tailed demon fox to turn back from its destructive path against Konoha, left with only a scar across her right palm, as a sign of a mysterious agreement the young kunoichi had made with the biju.

The silvery scar was now permanently hidden by bandages and was at the moment covered by a single black fingerless glove, the kanji for 'promise' prominent on the palm in silver thread, and again was etched into the metal plate that protected the back of her hand, but this was changed when off duty instead a simple red fingerless glove, the kanji instead embroidered in a darker red, with a simpler design in the hopes of attracting less attention, yet still with a plain metal plate, in case she was needed whilst off-duty it held a cunningly concealed storage seal.

* * *

She sighed slightly in annoyance at their reaction before tucking her papers away. Sliding them back into her pouch she walked on, stumbling a little before steadying herself, and continued making her way to the Hokage tower to deliver her mission report.

Hopefully she would get some rest tonight, maybe the nightmares would not plague her dreams for once...

* * *

_Yeah, so this is the first chapter, hope you guys liked it_

_And am part way through the next chapter, but as always I will most probably be delayed from updating as soon as I would like _

_Ja ne  
Ember_


	2. Chapter 2

_And here we have the second installment of the Golden Fox! Wahoooo!_

I slaved away at this whilst on holiday so I'm hoping you're all appreciative of it!

_Ember quote: 'Even the most beautiful blooms have hidden thorns'_

* * *

'_She sighed slightly in annoyance at their reaction before tucking her papers away. Sliding them back into her pouch she walked on, stumbling a little before steadying herself, and continued making her way to the Hokage tower to deliver her mission report._

_Hopefully she would get some rest tonight; maybe the nightmares would not plague her dreams for once...'_

* * *

She made a detour first, and soon arrived at a fairly nondescript location, standing before a rather bland and anonymous building. She chuckled softly as old memories arose to the forefront of her mind. One of her more memorable pranks, merely done in the name of stealth training, of course, though quite possibly having something to do with a slight bet with old man hokage, involving some fluorescent orange paint and the ANBU headquarters.

Well, she'd won that bet, along with a key to the Hokage's personal and private library, including unlimited access to the infamous forbidden scroll.  
What she had fond even more amazing was that, although many had suspected her involvement in the vandalism, there had been no evidence to link her to the crime.

Her chuckles fading now she smoothly climbed the three chakra testing steps as all ANBU had to do to get access to the building, the windows having special seals so that entry by them would result in a quick paralysis jutsu and would hold them in place until someone felt like getting them down, and that had been known to take several days. Walking inside the cooler building's entrance she was left marveling at the Nara clan's genius for creating such a system.

When each new ANBU was officially assigned to the ANBU squads they traditionally received a tattoo marking their membership of this elite defense. Taking this idea it was Nara Shikaku who came up with the idea of using a certain type of ink, subtly changed and mixed with the host's blood and chakra, then created a machine-of-sorts that permitted entrance only to those who carried this special ink tattoo.

This machine could not be tricked, and the ink could not be forged, the secret ingredients known only by the Hokage and the head of the ANBU, who marked all entrees. Both individuals added subtle hints of their own chakra into the mix, making it even harder for anyone to attempt to forge the markings to gain entrance to one of the most secretive buildings within Konoha.

* * *

Giving a small wave to the receptionist on duty in greeting Naru began walking towards the flights of stairs to the left of the entrance, on her way to her private office situated a floor up, but was halted when the receptionist called her back.

"Ookami-sama" before handing a small bundle of papers and messages, along with a couple of sealed scrolls to the tired kunoichi who sighed with slight annoyance on receiving the paperwork, the bane of all within the hidden countries.

Nodding her thanks Naru again turned to go and had almost made it to the stairs when the receptionist called to her again and, pausing with one foot on the bottom step Naru turned back and tilted her head, indicating both her annoyance and that she was listening to the now nervous receptionist.

Swallowing nervously she steeled herself under the slight glare of the narrowed cerulean eyes that quickly prompted her to speak.  
"A-anon, Hokage-sama asked that you visit him after reading those scrolls, and that he would like your report in person…"

Nodding once Naru turned away and continued up the stairs, silently nodding in greeting when she passed another masked nin, and averted her eyes away from everyone who was unmasked, it being polite to do so unless being directly addressed by them.

* * *

Finally she was stood before her private office door, her fingers itching to take off the now heavy mask.  
Pressing one palm flat against the door's lock she formed a small spike of her chakra and thrust it into the lock like a key. The door swung gently open before her and she stepped soundlessly inside.

The surfaces were neat and as a whole the room contained little furniture; a simple desk, a couple of chairs, and a small bookcase was ensconced within an alcove to the left of the empty desk, various scrolls filling it and on the opposing side a small trunk was situated, holding a small collection of casual civilian clothing for when she was eventually off duty.

* * *

As she leant her back against the now closed door she plucked her mask from her face, a frown marring her young features as she tossed it casually onto the empty desk, its empty sockets seeming to be watching her.  
Pushing off from the door, still wary of her ribs which she feared a couple of being cracked, and lowered herself into the cushioned chair behind the desk. Putting the paperwork to one side of the desk she slid open the left hand drawer and withdrew a small grey bag and quickly popped a soldier pill, aware of how close she was to collapse.

Sighing in relief as everything seemed to become much clearer before her eyes she felt her body regaining in strength and felt her chakra reserves begin to slowly full up. Then, with no seals needed, two more Naru's appeared in a 'poof' of smoke, the lightly whispered words of "Kage Bunshin" no longer needed, though she was still in the habit of saying them, due to her near perfect control over one of her near favorite and most useful jutsu in her repertoire.

* * *

Directing them both to sit opposite her at the desk she passed two sets of report forms, an extra one being done to be thorough. Quickly she set the other Naru's to work as she began to look over her newly received pile of papers, barely noticing the flecks of ink flying into the air as the two clones hurriedly busied themselves with their task, aware that time was short.

As she pulled one of the scrolls partially open her attention was distracted away from the now revealed text as the covered tattoo on her arm begin to tingle, a sign that she was needed before the Hokage.

The two clones swiftly dismissed themselves one at a time as their tasks were completed, the influx of information caused Naru to pause briefly as the memories aligned themselves within her own.

Sighing once she swiftly sealed all of her still unread papers into one of the many sealing scrolls she kept on her person and pulled her mask back into place and stood, her ribs seemingly screaming in protest at the strain she put on them with her movements but she decided to ignore them for now, for more pressing matters were at hand.

Though, as she gathered up the now dry reports she made a mental note to go and see a medic after her meeting with the Hokage, and just hoped that it would not be too long a meeting. Folding the reports carefully away into one of the many pockets that were concealed about her person, she double-checked her mask was firmly in place, swept her eyes about the small room to be sure she had not left anything of importance and disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

* * *

Ookami _– 'wolf'_

* * *

_Decided against a fox mask, that would be just too much fox for the moment  
_  
_My updates are gonna be slow as usual due to my being more focused on other things, and I've got a whole new story in my head I'm struggling to write down, so I again ask for your patience_

_Ember xx_


End file.
